1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an insulated packaging material which comprises a thermal insulating layer which is laminated to a heat-shrinkable face material. The face material can be coated with a coating material so that it is printable, thus imparting both insulating properties and print capability to the packaging material. The packaging material can be heat-shrunk to conform to complex curved surfaces.
2. Description of Related Art
Insulated enclosures for containers are known, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,871,597. This enclosure includes a first, or inner-most fabric layer, a second inner-most insulating layer which includes a polymeric foam, a third inner-most metallized polymer film reflective layer, and an outer-most fabric mesh layer. However, the use of four different layers, although providing good insulation for the container, can be cumbersome, which limits the flexibility of the container.
Also known in the film art is a thin electrical tape which comprises a polyester web-reinforced polyester film, as disclosed in 3M Utilities and Telecommunications OEM. However, this tape, which at its thickest is 0.0075 inch (0.0190 cm.), is not suitable for use as an insulated packaging material.
Thus, there exists a need to design an insulated packaging material which is inexpensive to manufacture. Such an insulator would be thick enough to provide adequate insulation, but thin enough to be flexible. It also would be advantageous to have such a material that may be heat-shrunk to fit over containers with simple and/or complex contours without losing insulation properties.